Desertification and Land Degradation in the Arab States of the Gulf

Land degradation in semi-arid regions and drylands, leading to desertification, in the Arab States of the Gulf, is considered as a critical ecological issue, which was reviewed in 1992 by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Chapter 12 of Agenda 21. It is reported that 41% of total area (about 150 million km2) is classified as drylands which covers 60 million km2 and two-thirds of global dry areas are deteriorated and experienced low fertility and severe damage is classified as desert area which occupies 40 million km2, approximately 35% or 14 million km2 of the degraded land is due to anthropogenic practices. Desertification is a global concern, affecting almost 1 billion people in different 110 countries, specifically in the Arab States of the Gulf. The United Nations Environment Programme has estimated that prevention costs are five times less than the land loss accrued to uncontrolled desertification.